Businesses in Southbank

10 Apr 2016

A gym like no other

The brand-new, state-of-the-art facilities at Platinum Athletic Fitness on City Rd are set to provide a game-changing platform for how residents of Southbank and the inner city do fitness, health and wellbeing.

Housed in more than 2000 sqm of space in a retrofitted warehouse, the new health and wellbeing centre boasts facilities that can’t be compared to anything Melbourne has seen before.

Managing director Shane Reeves said the business’s model was summed up by its tagline “Where The Heart Beats”, which symbolised an effort to amalgamate care and hospitality with fitness and wellbeing.

“I’ve just felt, through the evolution of time and the way civilization in inner-city suburbia is ‘go, go, go’, no one puts in the time to make it personable, so there’s no hospitality in hospitality anymore and there’s no hospitality in gyms. There’s no personality,” he said.

With a background in both hospitality and fitness, Shane said the fundamental purpose underlying the business was about creating an environment that would foster those two forces.

With a decorated background in fitness that has included roles from Australia to the Middle East, operations manager Ali Armeda said the business’s model was what attracted him to come on board.

“To be honest, there was nothing like this concept – where everything you could get is a one-stop, along with obviously the service and the philosophy that we’re trying to go for – I strongly believe this is what the market needs,” he said.

“I think it’s a great concept and, from speaking to our members on what we’re trying to achieve, it already is working because it’s what they want!”

Shane said the facility was designed to accommodate everything under one roof in order to create a central location that would help save its members both time and money.

“When we’re speaking to our clients, they go to their yoga studio, they go to their cross fit studio and then they go to their gym,” he said.

“They spend $250 to $300 a month. For what they spend here we’re saving them anywhere between $100 and $200 a month because we’ve got those services on site. Our goal is to give our clients hours back in their week.”

The City Rd centre is also ideally located in the middle of Southbank, South Melbourne, Albert Park and Port Melbourne next to the tram stop and many other essential services including South Melbourne Market.

Ali said he and all of the initial 30-plus staff members were determined to create a community environment that its members could call a second home.

“If we notice a member isn’t coming, we want to pick up the phone and find out why they’re not coming. Is there something we can do? Is it a lack of motivation, is it personal issues? What can do to get you into the club?”

“We want to create that community and care factor that gyms are lacking nowadays.”